Chapter 29: Attribute Magic I (part 1)

Two weeks had passed since I entered Arcana.

In that time, whether fortunately or unfortunately, nothing noteworthy had happened after the weekend outing.

Each day had been as peaceful as the last.

I spent my days talking about Helen and her knights, occasionally chatting with the Crown Prince. Rei wanted to talk to me as she used to, but she seemed to need some time alone to sort through her thoughts.

After studying, I would stop by a café for a sweet iced chocolate. 

Another calm, uneventful day.

But I already knew—

These quiet days were merely the calm before the storm.

***

“My seniors told me that professors of attribute magic are strict.”

“That’s because it’s a difficult and dangerous subject. The strictness is to prevent accidents.”

At Arcana, students were divided by major, but in practice, most classes were shared. With only around 80 students enrolled each year, there was no real need to separate us.

The only notable differences between majors were in test content and priority when applying for additional classes.

The class I was in now—Attribute Magic—was one of those optional, additional classes.

***

Everyone in this world possesses mana.

By default, mana is unaligned. It only gains an attribute when it’s refined and transformed.

There are five total attributes: fire, water, earth, wind, and light.

Most commoners can only transform their mana into one attribute. 

Nobles average two. 

Beyond that—three or more—it becomes a matter of personal talent.

Usually, there’s no real need to study attribute magic in depth. Most people can manage just fine by simply refining their magic. There’s little incentive to invest time in something as complex and risky as attribute magic.

However, the reason this field developed is that, in the hands of the truly gifted, it can produce astonishing results.

Take Sophia, for example—the female lead of the original story. 

Her talent in light magic is overwhelming. For an average person to cast even the basic healing magic she uses effortlessly, they would have to expend dozens of times more mana.

With that in mind, attribute magic becomes a critical area of study in this world.

***

“Did I apply for this class for nothing?”

To be clear, this class wasn’t necessary for me personally.

In the original story, Ike never took Attribute Magic. Whether he failed to register or never intended to in the first place, I wasn’t sure—but I suspected the latter.

Ike’s body could convert mana into earth and wind attributes. But he lacked talent. His conversion speed was extremely slow.

Unlike expanding the mana path, attribute conversion is purely a matter of innate ability. 

In that regard, both I and the original Ike were the same.

So, in the original work, Ike had no reason to study attribute magic.

Even so, there was one reason I signed up for this class:

It was the only optional course where Reina, Sophia, and the Crown Prince were all present.

The conflict between Reina and Sophia.

The subtle tension between Sophia and the prince.

The awkward distance between Reina and him.

Most of their interactions—moments of connection, tension, and eventual unraveling—took place in this very class.

Knowing all that, I couldn’t just ignore it.

***

Today was the first day of Attribute Magic.

“Can any of you tell me why attribute magic is considered difficult and dangerous?”

Professor Dande stood at the front of the classroom, addressing us.

The Crown Prince raised his hand.

“Because improperly performed attribute magic can cause a mana backlash.”

“Correct, Your Highness Leon.”

Professor Dande began writing the lesson content on the blackboard in steady, deliberate strokes.

“Ordinary magic surpasses human limits. Body-enhancing magic illustrates that most clearly.”

He pulled a walnut from his pocket and crushed it in one hand. When he opened his palm, it was shattered into pieces.

“Attribute magic, on the other hand, goes beyond even those limits. It creates miracles—by undergoing several additional steps.”

He popped the walnut kernel into his mouth and continued.

“But forcing miracles means, even briefly, defying the laws of the world. When that process goes wrong, you get a mana backlash. You’ve all heard about the devastation it causes.”

When magic runs out of control, the caster’s magic path doesn’t just tear—it shatters completely.

The remaining mana, trapped in the fragments of the broken furnace, tries to activate the magic by force. The result: it gradually heats the body from within… until it explodes.

A single mana backlash incident can erase everything within a 100-meter radius.

That’s why attribute magic—which can push mana to such dangerous extremes—is considered extraordinarily risky.

“Attribute magic,” Professor Dande continued, “is the power to create miracles. But miracles come at a price—mana. And to pay that price, spells serve as the means to break down the walls of the world.”

At the bottom of the blackboard, he wrote:

[Flame, attack the enemy.]

“This is the basic spell formula for the fireball. The simplest of the fire attribute spells.”

He turned to us, extending his right hand toward the wall.

“Flame, attack the enemy.”

A fireball took shape in the air and flew toward the wall. 

I held my breath, bracing for an accident—but the magic vanished entirely before it made contact.